Sony PlayStation Launches
‘Desi Adda – Games of India’

~ Indian Game Development introduces the 1st indigeneous PSP game  ~
~ 1st PlayStation game playable in 3 Indian languages : Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi ~

Now play the Games of India, on your favorite PS2™ and PSP™

Mumbai, 2nd November 2009: Continuing their foray into creating games with Indian contents, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced today the launch of Desi Adda: Games of India - specially developed by an Indian Game Development Studio – Gameshastra Solutions Pvt Ltd, for the two PlayStation console formats : PS2™ and PSP™. As a continuing commitment towards partnership with the Indian game development industry, this is the second time Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is working with an Indian game development company to publish ‘ Desi Adda: Games of India. ‘

Desi Adda: Games of India comes with a number of firsts:

• 1st console game completely developed by Indian Development Studio for the PSP
• 1st console game to be playable in 3 Indian languages : Hindi, Punjabi and in Tamil
• Features 6 traditional Indian games: Pachisi, Goat & the tiger, Kite Fight, Kabaddi, Gilli Danda and the beat matching dance game

‘Desi Adda: Games of India’ emanates from the inspiration drawn from the good old, traditional games of India on to a contemporary and modern platform. The interest about such traditional games will help broadbasing both the usage of PlayStation as well as the knowledge of the game amongst the young Indians. The partnership between Sony Computer Entertainment with Gameshastra Solutions Pvt Ltd has resulted in the development and publishing of ‘Desi Adda: Games of India‘, for India as well as the global market. Developed for both: PS2™ and PSP™, ‘Desi Adda: Games of India’ will be available in the Indian market at a suggested retail price of Rs. 499/- for PS2 and Rs. 999/- for the PSP.

Atindriya Bose, Country Manager – PlayStation, Sony Computer Entertainment said, “We are very proud to launch the first Indian game on PSP with localized content, in 3 Indian languages completely developed in India These are the long-established, traditional games of India that are now inspiring games on the very modern interactive platform of PlayStation. On PS2™ and PSP™ platform, people will, for the first time, get to play these time-honored games and carry forward the flavors of traditional India to the newer generations”.

Prakash Ahuja, CEO, Gameshastra, said, “When we presented the concept of Desi Adda to SCEE , we were pleasantly surprised with the enthusiasm and the support that we got from SCEE to build India based thematic content for the Indian market and the Diaspora globally. We are very excited with the way the game has evolved and are thankful to SCEE for all their belief in launching this title across their major platforms. Currently, we are also working on a new genre of game based on Indian Martial Arts, along with multiple titles for the PSP Minis platform for the global market.” The game is the story of Avinash, son of an NRI businessman, who comes to visit his ancestral village. Since Avinash has lived all his life abroad, and this is his first visit to an Indian village, he is fascinated by what he sees. The story unfolds as he roams around the village, plays the different village games, and meets Gowri and Gopal, a couple who are in love, but cannot get married as the village head, Garjan Singh, is opposed to their match. Avinash must now seek different people in the village, who play a part in this story one way or the other, and try to find a way to get the Gowri and Gopal married and also save the village from the evil plans of Garjan Singh. The 6 traditional Indian games include:

• Pachisi -Pachisi is a turn based board game played using the cross shaped board and two rectangular dice. It’s a game of change and strategy. Pachisi game played between the Pandavas and Kauravas is the significant event in the great epic of Mahabharata

• Aadu Puli Aatam (Goat & the Tiger) - This is a hunt game and game between the extravagant Tigers and the deceitful goats. The general rule of this interesting strategy game is the number of tigers varies from 1 to 4, and the number of goats from 11 to 12 to 23 or 24. The general aim is to hem in the tigers so that they cannot move, but the arrangement of pieces, the method of play and the rules of capture vary from game to game.
  

• Kite fight - In India people fly kites to cut other kites. Specially made threads, mostly coated with fine powdered glass, are used for the kite fight. Kites are made from colored paper and are available in various shapes. Two bamboo sticks called "tuddah" (which is straight) and "Kaamp" which is arched, hold the paper together. The string attached determines the performance of the kite.
• Kabaddi - Two teams compete with each other for higher scores, by touching or capturing the players of the opponent team. Each team consists of 12 players, of which seven are on court at a time, and five in reserve. The two teams fight for higher scores, alternating defence and offense.

• Gilli Danda is a game like cricket or baseball but without a ball and with a different set of rules. The ball is replaced by a small stick called Gilli. The Gilli 3 to 4 inches long and both the ends are tapered. Danda is a 24 inches long cylindrical stick used like a bat.  Player can enjoy batting the Gilli or fielding among the free cattle.


• Dance game is a beat matching game, in which the user has to match the beats of a song playing in the background, by pressing a combination of buttons at the right time as they scroll on the bottom of the screen. The aim is to try and successfully press the right combination of buttons at the right time in order to win the game.

About Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), based in London, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of PlayStation®3, PlayStation®2, PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) and PlayStation®Network software and hardware in 99 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. SCEE also develops, publishes markets and distributes entertainment software for these formats, and manages the third party licensing programs for the formats in these territories. Since the launch of PlayStation 3 in November 2006, over 23.7 million units have been sold globally and continue to be sold at a record level.   Maintaining its position as one of the most successful consumer electronic products in history, PlayStation 2 has sold over 138.8 million systems worldwide.  Since its launch at the end of 2004, over 52.9 million PSPs have been sold globally, highlighting the importance of the portable entertainment market.  With the huge increase in interest and accessibility of network applications and network gaming, over 27 million accounts have registered to PlayStation Network, the free-to-access interactive environment, and over 560 million items have been downloaded.

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PlayStation, PLAYSTATION and the PlayStation logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.  PS3 and PSP are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.  All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

About Gameshastra:

India's largest Game Services company –Gameshastra is the leading game studio in India developing games for the emerging Indian market and publishing games on digital distribution platforms globally. A winner of the Red Herring award as one of the top 100 technology startups in 2007 has grown significantly to now have  a portfolio of over 200+games across consoles,
handheld devices and smart phones .Studio is located in Hyderabad India with development and marketing teams in California and New York

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